


Cleaning Up

by Lexen (bluedragoninamber)



Series: A Magical Rainbow:  A Collection of All My Rare Pair Romance Stories [4]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alastor Moody Lives, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Committed Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Humor, May/December Relationship, No Remus/Tonks, No baby, Not Canon Compliant - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Nymphadora Tonks Lives, Older Man/Younger Woman, repost
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-12
Updated: 2019-08-12
Packaged: 2020-08-19 13:43:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20210737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bluedragoninamber/pseuds/Lexen
Summary: After the war, Moody and Tonks move forward together.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Please Read: This story is mine. I am the original and only author. It was first posted on FFN more than five years ago. I don’t remember exactly when. I took all my stories down off the internet and left the HP fandom due to personal reasons. I am now returning to the fandom and reposting some of my old stories. When I posted these stories on FFN, my penname was Lexen (and sometimes Hope4astalemate and bluedragoninamber) though I usually went by Lex. To repeat, this story is mine. Please don’t claim I have stolen it from someone else. Also, please don’t ask me to repost a particular story. I will be reposting only those stories which I choose to repost, and I will only be reposting them here.

** Disclaimer ** **: I don’t own it, and I am making no money off of it. **

** AN ** **: Written for 5 Drabbles Competition. Pairing is Alastor Moody/Nmphadora Tonks. It is AU after the Final Battle. Both Moody and Tonks survived, and Tonks never married or had a baby. Prompt for this drabble was “cleaning day.” **

“You’d have thought that the Death Eaters would at least have been capable of cleaning up after themselves,” Tonks said as she frowned at the mess. They were standing in the main auror office at the Ministry of Magic. At that moment, however, it bore more resemblance to a rubbish heap. Files, scrolls, and bits of parchment littered the floor. The furniture was overturned, and Tonks wrinkled her nose at the smell of rotting food.

Alastor squeezed her shoulder gently. “Slobs they may have been, but I detect no lingering dark magic whatsoever. I’d say what we need here is a bit of effort and some household cleaning charms.”

Tonks grimaced then sneezed. “I’m terrible at those, Alastor. I don’t suppose you’re any better?”

He shrugged. “How hard can it be? I manage to keep my place clean after all. Besides, this office needed a complete overhaul long before the Death Eaters moved in. A strong, general purpose cleaning charm should do the trick.”

Tonks had the forethought to back up. She also elected to cast a shield spell. While Alastor knew everything there was to know about fighting dark wizards and witches, she wasn’t entirely comfortable trusting his mastery of household charms.

A moment later, her hunch was proven right.

A terrific explosion nearly deafened her as the world went grey. When Tonks could see and hear again, she cautiously looked through her shield for Alastor…and promptly burst out laughing.

Alastor stood, none the worse for wear, in the middle of the room. However, he was covered head to toe in dust. He coughed and then glanced over at Tonks.

“I think I put a bit too much power in that cleaning charm.” 


	2. Chapter 2

** Disclaimer ** **: I don’t own it, and I am making no money off of it. **

** AN ** **: Written for 5 Drabbles Competition. Pairing is Alastor Moody/Nmphadora Tonks. It is AU after the Final Battle. Both Moody and Tonks survived, and Tonks never married or had a baby. Prompt for this drabble was “pygmy puff.”**

After Tonks had applied several more cleaning charms, all much weaker than Alastor’s disaster and Alastor had managed to clean himself up enough that he did not look like he’d been caught in a snowstorm, the room was beginning to look marginally better. However, there was still the matter of the dust. There was simply no spell that could eliminate that many layers of dust without obliterating the entire room.

“What about a pygmy puff?” Tonks suggested, remembering her mother’s secret weapon for keeping their attic clean. “Pygmies will eat absolutely anything. They gobbled up dust at my parents’ house like it was treacle tart.”

Alastor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “That might be a definite possibility. But where are we supposed to find enough pygmy puffs to eat all this mess?”

Tonks smiled. “We only need a few. Trust me, Alastor, they can eat a lot more than their size suggests. We could probably manage this job with half a dozen of them.”

At that moment, one of the Ministry staff poked his head in the door. 

“Did I hear one of you mention needing some pygmy puffs? We just came across a nest of them in the Minister’s office of all places. They’re all healthy and hungry.” The young man held out the basket, and six pygmy puffs stared out curiously at the assorted humans.

For one of those rare times, Alastor smiled, and Tonks could have kissed the pygmy puffs in thanks for that smile.

“Tonks, put them down on the floor.” As Tonks did so with great care, Alastor addressed the pygmy puffs, waving a hand at the room. “I hope you are all hungry because dinner is served.”

Tonks didn’t quite manage to hold back her laughter as the puffs made a beeline for the dust…and for once, Alastor was laughing too.


	3. Chapter 3

** Disclaimer ** **: I don’t own it, and I am making no money off of it. **

** AN ** **: Written for 5 Drabbles Competition. Pairing is Alastor Moody/Nmphadora Tonks. It is AU after the Final Battle. Both Moody and Tonks survived, and Tonks never married or had a baby. Prompt for this drabble was “pineapple.” **

Of course, the pygmy puffs couldn’t do all the work. With a combination of magic and elbow grease, Alastor and Tonks cleaned furniture, repaired shelves, and attempted to make sense of the mountains of scrolls, books, and assorted junk that had found its way into the room. 

When left to his own devices, Alastor frequently forgot to eat, so Tonks made sure that around noontime they called a halt for lunch. The same nice young man who had brought them the pygmy puffs was happy to fetch them something to eat. When he brought in the tray, Tonks was delighted to see the fresh pineapple slices beside their sandwiches.

Alastor cast a wary eye over the strange yellow fruit as Tonks happily bit into one.

“What in Merlin’s name is that?” he asked. 

She smiled, licking the juice off her fingers. Tonks didn’t miss how his eyes followed the path of her tongue into her mouth.

“It’s a pineapple, Alastor. Have you never had one before?” He shook his head. She picked up another slice and offered it to him. “Here, try it. It’s one of my favorite fruits.”

Amused despite himself, Alastor obligingly opened his mouth and took a bite of the pineapple. Tonks watched anxiously as he chewed and swallowed. A lopsided grin spread over his face, and Tonks smiled back.

“Good?” she asked. 

Alastor said nothing, but he opened his mouth in obvious invitation.

Tonks laughed as she fed him more pineapple.


	4. Chapter 4

** Disclaimer ** **: I don’t own it, and I am making no money off of it. **

** AN ** **: Written for 5 Drabbles Competition. Pairing is Alastor Moody/Nmphadora Tonks. It is AU after the Final Battle. Both Moody and Tonks survived, and Tonks never married or had a baby. Prompt for this drabble was “I Know I’m Not the Only One” by Sam Smith.**

Even her mother had said she was crazy for loving Alastor Moody. 

“He’s not the settling type. He’s far too paranoid for that. If you’re expecting the kind of man who’s going to make you a mother with three kids to see off to Hogwarts, you need to look elsewhere,” Andromeda had said.

Tonks had simply smiled. “What if that’s not the kind of man I want?”

Alastor Moody did not make friends easily, but once he made them, he never let them go. Though he had shoved her away time and time again, Tonks had clawed her way back to his side.

They were both aurors. They both lived for the thrill of danger. They both knew the touch of darkness. He was enough and more than enough for her.

She’d had boyfriends before. Lovers and bedmates, even a few who professed that she was their only one. But every time, she had found out that they had lied.

Alastor Moody was the only man whom she knew she could trust enough to know that she was his only one. It didn’t matter if there was never a legal document or a wedding ring to prove it. One thing she had learned about Alastor was that once you were his responsibility, you were his for life. He had made that clear to Tonks a few weeks ago, the morning after the first night she had spent in his bed. Alastor Moody never did things halfway. 

They would be each other’s only one forever.


	5. Chapter 5

** Disclaimer ** **: I don’t own it, and I am making no money off of it. **

** AN ** **: Written for 5 Drabbles Competition. Pairing is Alastor Moody/Nmphadora Tonks. It is AU after the Final Battle. Both Moody and Tonks survived, and Tonks never married or had a baby. Prompt for this drabble was “rubber duck.” **

It took them the entire day and another dinner of pineapples before the room was usable again.

Alastor looked around in obvious satisfaction. “That should just about do it. The rest of the department can start moving back in tomorrow. Frankly, I’m inclined to make each auror responsible for cleaning up his or her own area. I think we’ve done more than our share of the work.”

Tonks smirked, smoothing back his dusty hair with gentle fingers. “I agree. Seeing as how neither of us is going to be at work tomorrow, I think they’re going to have to do it themselves.”

Alastor raised his brows. “Oh we aren’t, are we? Tell me, Tonks, where are we going to be?”

She slid her arms around him. “We are going to be spending the day at your flat doing everything we didn’t have a chance to do three weeks ago.”

Now it was his turn to smirk. “I suppose that means you are coming home with me.”

Tonks laughed. “You better believe it, Mad Eye. And that rubber duck is coming with us.”

Alastor nearly choked on a laugh. “That thing? I thought it was meant for the rubbish heap. What in Merlin’s name is it for anyway?”

Tonks smiled. “It’s a muggle toy that’s meant to be played with while bathing.” She looked up coyly at him. “You do have that nice bathtub, and we are both in desperate need of a bath.”

He smirked again. “Sometimes I wonder why you weren’t in Slytherin.”

She leaned against his chest. “Loyalty before anything else for me. You of all people know the truth of that.”

Alastor tipped her chin up and kissed her with all the words he could not say.

“I know, Tonks. I know.”


End file.
